Summer Days
by JBS-Forever
Summary: A trip to the lake takes a wrong turn when Soda convinces Darry to let a still-healing Ponyboy jump from a ledge into the water. One-shot.


**Just a little one shot I wrote to get some ideas flowing. The scene where Pony is jumped is from a different story I was writing that never got finished.**

**I like pie. **

**That is all.**

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"Come on, Dar!" Soda said excitedly, pulling his shirt over his head. Steve and Two-Bit kicked their shoes off, shoving each other as they raced for the water, pulling their shirts off as they got closer.

"I'll be right in," Darry said, laying down the hot dog buns on a picnic table. They had all decided to go to the lake and have a barbeque since it was a hot day and it had been a long time since they all did something together since Johnny and Dally's deaths. Ponyboy was handling it better. He still had nightmares every so often and it scared Darry and Soda to no belief.

Darry was firing up the grill and getting ready to take his own shoes off when he realized Ponyboy wasn't in the water with everyone else. He glanced around, spotting his younger brother sitting on a picnic table and staring out at the water. Darry walked over to him and sat down next to him on the table.

"You gonna go in?"

Ponyboy nodded. "Just thinkin'."

"Bout what?" Darry asked.

"Member when Johnny almost drowned cause we took him to the lake and didn't know he couldn't swim?"

Darry looked out over the water, watching Soda dunk Steve. He remembered the moment perfectly. It was one that would forever be etched into his mind. "Yeah. But don't think about that. It'll make ya sad."

Ponyboy shook his head and smiled. "I like to remember. Makes it hurt less. We spent the next few hours teachin' him how to swim, remember?"

"I remember, kiddo." Darry hopped down from the table and ruffled Ponyboy's hair. "Go have some fun."

Ponyboy rolled his eyes and made a face. "Ok, ok."

"Pony!" Soda yelled happily. Darry and Ponyboy both looked to see him standing up at the top of one of the hills by the water. "Check this out!"

He jumped off and curled himself into a ball, hitting the water and creating a huge splash. He emerged a few seconds later, laughing.

"C'mon Pone!"

Steve was next, getting a running start before he flung himself off the edge, aiming for Soda. Soda noticed and tried to swim out of the way. The water splashed up around him and Steve came to the surface, getting hit in the face with a wave of water curtsey of Sodapop.

"Hey, Pone," Darry said, turning back around. Ponyboy was standing, pulling his shirt off.

"What?"

"Don't go jumpin' off that hill."

"Aw, why not?" Pony whined.

"You ain't a strong swimmer and I don't need you gettin' hurt. You're still healin'."

Ponyboy knew what Darry was taking about. Last month he had got jumped by some of Bob's friends looking for revenge. Ponyboy had been coming home from the library and was a few blocks away from his house when they showed up. They had him for a good few minutes before Soda, Darry, Steve, and Two-Bit came to his rescue.

Those few minutes were more than enough.

_Someone hit him in the face. A few seconds after the shock wore off, Ponyboy decided he wasn't gonna go down not fighting. He needed to try to protect himself or else they might hurt him really bad. He swung back, getting one of the boys in the stomach. The boy doubled over and Ponyboy turned on his heels, running. He needed to get home. _

_Someone else tackled him to the ground, the rest of the group catching up. _

"_Hold him down!" _

_Ponyboy fought against them, but he was no match. Two of them pinned his arms down as he struggled. _

"_Time for a little payback, greaser," One of them said, pulling out a knife. Ponyboy did the only thing he could think of. He started screaming, just like he had done the last time he was jumped. _

"_DARRY! SODA! HELP!" _

"_Shut him up!" _

_Someone shoved a cloth into his mouth, muffling his cries. This was all too much like before, when he had been coming home from the movies and a few greasers decided to pick on him. Only this time, Dallas wouldn't be there to save him, Johnny wouldn't be there to comfort him. The thought brought tears to his eyes. _

"_Is the little greaser gonna cry?" One of them taunted. Ponyboy glared. Suddenly someone socked him in the face, making his vision spin. The next thing he knew, they were hitting him all over, and not just with their fists. Ponyboy's cries were lost in the cloth. He had never felt pain like this before. He tried to wiggle his arms free, but each blow was taking its toll. _

"_Hey!" Someone shouted. _

_The Socs stopped. Ponyboy couldn't tell what was going on, but the next thing he knew there was a cloud of dust around him as they took off running, being chased by other people. Ponyboy's mind was swirling as his body throbbed in pain. _

"_Pony," Someone said softly. It was Soda. Ponyboy's view of the sky was now replaced with Soda's worried face. Soda gently started pulling the cloth from Ponyboy's mouth and Pony noticed it was now stained red. Tears flooded his eyes and he broke down in sobs. Greasers weren't supposed to cry, but it hurt Ponyboy too much. _

"_It's ok, Pone," Soda said gently and then turned his head. "Dar!" _

_Darry came racing back, kneeling beside Soda. "Oh hell." _

"_I think we need to take him to the hospital," Soda said worriedly. Darry nodded. _

"_Pone, how bad ya hurt?" Darry asked, trying to assess the situation. Pony sucked in a few shaky breaths, but he couldn't make his voice work. _

"_There's a lot of blood, Darry." That was Two-Bit. He and Steve had come back, having lost the Socs when they jumped into their car. _

"_Go get my truck." _

"Oh fine," Pony sighed.

"Thanks. Now go have fun."

Pony ran to the water while Darry went back and checked the grill. He decided he'd make food before he went and swam.

"Darry," A voice complained. Soda was approaching him, water dripping from his hair. "Can't Pony jump just once?"

Darry let out an annoyed breath. "You think that's a good idea?"

"Yeah!" Soda pointed to the hill, where Steve was shoving Two-Bit off into the water. "It ain't that high. Just once. C'mon Dar."

"Fine. Just once," Darry agreed, not wanting to be pestered about it. Soda smiled and ran off again, calling to Ponyboy. Two-Bit stayed in the water, but Ponyboy, Steve, and Soda all went up to the hill.

"It's easy," Soda said. "Just get a runnin' start and jump. Like this."

Soda demonstrated the jump for Ponyboy. Steve laughed when he hit the water, shoving Ponyboy lightly.

"Go, kid."

"I dunno," Pony said nervously, looking down at the drop.

"Oh, c'mon! Look, we'll jump at the same time, ok?"

Ponyboy bit his lip and nodded. "Ok."

"On three. One. Two. Three! Go!"

Ponyboy ran forward and flung himself off the hill, smashing into the water. Steve burst out into laughter at the fact that he hadn't jumped. Soda cheered from below and Two-Bit joined in.

Until they realized Ponyboy wasn't emerging from the water. They waited a few silent seconds.

"Pony?" Soda called out. He and Two-Bit were too far away from where he landed to see him. Suddenly his body floated to the top of the water, but he wasn't moving.

"DARRY!" Darry turned around to see what was happening.

"Shit!" Steve yelled, diving from the hill. Darry dropped his tongs and raced to the water, jumping in. Everyone was trying to swim to where Pony was.

Steve got there first, flipping Pony over. He kicked his legs, moving Pony through the water. Darry met him where his feet still touched the ground and scooped Ponyboy up in his arms, sloshing his way back to shore.

He laid his little brother on the ground and he and Steve kneeled next to him.

"He ain't breathing, Dar!" Steve said warningly. Soda and Two-Bit were running from the shallow water to them.

"Pony!" Soda cried, dropping down next to him.

"Back up," Darry said. He pushed down on Pony's chest, trying to remember what little he knew of CPR. After a few attempts, Ponyboy suddenly started coughing and choking. He rolled onto his side and spat out water, laying limp afterwards. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and Soda put a hand on his forehead.

"You ok, Pone?" He asked. Ponyboy rolled onto his back again, looking up at the sky.

"That..." He said in a hoarse voice. "Was awesome."

Darry groaned and buried his face into his hands.


End file.
